Comfort Of Strangers - Beth Orton Album Review

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Album Review

Sometimes you come across a piece of music that's absolutely essential to your collection: this one isn't.

It's not always good karma to seek out the company of strangers - this album is a case in point. Severely overrated Beth Orton's latest release, Company Of Strangers, her fourth studio recording was knocked together over two weeks in New York in the spring of 2005, produced by ex-Sonic Youth axeman Jim O'Rourke. Simply put, this a rambling monster of a rambler containing few defining moments. Unlike her contemporaries, such as K.T.Tunstall, she fails to hit any kind of 'memorable' resonance in her writing. The combination of monotonous, limp and dodgy vocals does little to enhance the morbidity of its laboured 14 tracks.

Heartland Truckstop picks up the pace for a while, and then relapses into tedium. Feral Children has the odd pleasant accordion touches, only to fall foul of further limpness. Previously, she's not managed to enter the top 20 with any singles, and her highest album - her last release - The Definitive Collection - is the only one to make the top ten in the UK. This one will bring the UK singer- songwriter little opportunity to improve on that record. Omitting certain songs may have slightly enhanced its appeal, though that's in some doubt. In reality, Orton's songwriting is way beyond average, with too many filler tracks: overall this collection is quite forgettable.

A great listening experience needs to be bold, dynamic, and accessible; much of this isn't.

Best of a bad bunch - the reasonably perky single Conceived released Monday January 30.

Elly Roberts